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noticed Primacy MXM4 ZP on sale (RFT)

18K views 46 replies 20 participants last post by  boooomer 
#1 ·
#2 ·
I've been advocating the Bridgestone RE960AS Pole Position RFT, mainly because it's the "3rd Generation RF" from Bridgestone (as BMW's main tire supplier). It comes with a mileage warranty, promise of better ride comfort, all season design and other warranty benefits. Check it out on the Tire Rack.

No other tire manufacturer has more RF experience/technology with BMW compared to Bridgestone...and their 3rd "Gen" replacement tire has a lot to offer IMO (including reduced price).
 
#4 ·
I noticed this on Tire Rack as well as I am pre-shopping for replacing my tires in 1Q 2013. After much deliberation, I think I am going to stay with RFT's, now just trying to determine whether to stay with the Conti's that were OEM on my car, but rotate them; or switch to another brand. I, too am curious if anyone has had experience with the Michelen MXM4 ZP's. They are listed as an A/S Touring analogous to the Conti A/S RFTs.
 
#9 ·
Hi Kat,

Same here and considering staying with the Contis as well. Thought you'd find it interesting that a recent loaner had me scratching my head whether it had the OEM tires or go flats. After 3 close looks I determined that in fact it had the FRT Contis but the difference was like night and day compare to my car (2+ years old and 25K miles on the odometer). Either these tires degrade rather quickly or Conti changed the rubber formula because I couldn't get enough of it. The loaner had 8K miles on it, as a reference point...

Happy shopping :)
 
#5 · (Edited)
I just went through a massive suspension refresh and put the Primacy MXM4 ZP on. Thread here, look at last update:

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=652228&highlight=fsd

I originally paid $147/each. They are $129/each now. I cannot praise these grand touring run flats more. I can compare apples to apples now with a E90 loaner with less then 1k miles. Hands down, these tires, along with the suspension bits I replaced made my car feel better then it did from factory at quite a low price. Please note these are listed as GRAND TOURING A/S, not Standard. When tire companies put the "Grand" in there, they typically focus on noise and impact response to differentiate them from their standard line. Essentially, its to market to the premium A/S consumer.

I was just able to drive these in wet, and the traction is top notch compared to EL42/Conti BMW orig gave the car. Its quieter, it absorbs hard impacts better, and its got alot more traction in wet/dry.

$129/each!! No brainer if you are shopping for run flats.

More info on the tire here with quick wet tests

http://www.motortrend.com/features/consumer/1006_michelin_primacy_mxm4_tire/viewall.html
 
#6 ·
Never tried the RFT version, but my wife had the MXM4s as OEM on a Ford Fusion. They are quite expensive for a very average touring tire. So after 2 were damaged in an accident, all 4 were replaced with Conti DWS and the handling is greatly improved.

Tom
 
#8 ·
Thanks for the heads up. I needed new tires and since we've been running Michelins on our other vehicle, I decided to switch away from the stock Contis before I'm forced to buy another set from the BMW dealer who always seems to have Contis in stock.

Michelin and R&T seem to say that they are better than the Contis, so for the price, I'll try them out. Plus these are supposed to be better in the snow and that can't hurt out here in Denver.

-Chuck

2006 325xit E91
 
#11 ·
I did order these tires. I will never own another B'Stone tire given the crap Potenza's I had on another car.
This is a 3rd gen RFT and I am actually going back to them from Pilot Sports which are noisier than my Conti SSRs first gen RFT.
I am putting the Pilots on my M3 which has a set or worn out Pilots on them now with my stock Contours and I am running OZ Motorsport Wheels on Toyo Proxies until I change out the worn out Pilots with my almost new Pilots on the E93.
I know that this tire provides a smooth ride and long tire life. I also know it handles reasonably but not anywhere close to the Pilots but hey it is an E93 not my M3...
 
#13 ·
Having previously had Michelins that had this same tread pattern but not RFTs they were some of the longest lasting tires I ever owned on a 328. If Michelin says UTOG 500 I expect to get 50K miles out of them. The Conti SSRs had a UTOG 400 which when I changed them out I got 38K miles at 4/32" tread left, legal in this state is 2/32".
The only way I know if this is a mistake is when I have them on the car.
I don't run staggered on my E93 so the issue of not being able to do tire rotation doesn't apply...
 
#14 ·
I've finally driven these tires in snow/ice. They are incredibly predictable. I have to say, these tires do deserve their M+S rating. These arent as good as a pure snow tire, but g'dam, I would say they are 70% there with RWD. I wouldnt drive in really deep snow, but they will get you through light snow. It took 7 years for a decent A/S run flat to hit the market!!

I cannot say enough good things about these run flats.
 
#15 ·
I finally got these installed. I haven't driven on the highway or taken any twisty roads yet. My observations around town up to about 55 MPH are that they have a more dampened ride and don't transmit as much square edge harshness as the Continentals. They also seem to be quieter. Looking at the profile of the sidewall, they have a much wider bulge with a lip around the bead that extends past the edge of the rim. It would probably be more difficult to accidentally get any rim rash with these tires. I'd say that I'm pretty happy with them so far. I'll be waiting for the next snow storm.

-Chuck
 
#16 · (Edited)
I have finally driven these tires on extreme ice, and light snow. I am completely satisfied. These tires are solid and have good traction on ice at low temps (<10F). I have not driven in deep snow yet (chicago has been having a mild winter). I do no expect these tires to perform as a true winter tire in deep snow, but I have confidence in a bind, I can make it home with careful driving.

I would recommend these tires to anyone looking for a solid Run Flat A/S tire that is quiet and predictable.

I have been driving rwd bmws for over a decade with winter tires. This is the first time I am confident with an a/s in winter under manageable conditions. If the snow is piling up, Ill call it a snow day and stay home.
 
#17 ·
I have had these for 3 weeks and they are a lot quieter than my Michelin Sports. The RFT harshness typical is much much subdued and I am very happy with these tires. I can't comment on handling except to say they are now broken in and I drive only in wet and dry conditions no snow or ice so can't comment.
Great deal on a excellent tire...
 
#18 ·
There is a $70 rebate till 2/23 to sweeten the deal. When you receive the tires from Tirerack what were their manf. date? Are these on sale because they are close to expiration?
Just had a leak on DWS and inadvertently drove 0.5 miles on it to ruin the tire, had to replace it on the same day.
It seems my left front tire gets the most wear followed by front right then back tires, should have put new tire on Front Left...
 
#20 ·
Still on sale for $137 w/$70 rebate of 4 till 4/20.
My DWS has 40k miles on them now. Never rotated, rear has inner wear and cupping.
Unfortunately I had to get a new 225/45ZR17 DWS 3,000 miles ago for $170 locally after a flat tire.
 
#21 ·
Michelin MX4's now grace my 328i

So I had 21,000 mikes on the original 17" Bridgestones which were manufactured in '07. One of the tires started to bulge :mad:on the rear drivers side. Brigestone tire cost was $290 so I took a chance on the $137 Tire Rack Michelins for all corners. Michelins have a better spreed rating and 30k warranty prorated. Drove them for three months now and the ride is acceptable. :thumbup: Paid local Firestone dealer to install them with lifetime rotation included. LOL to me!
Mikey
New Braunfels, TX
P.S. Nordic_Kat, if you are reading this, pls respond to my previous post regarding my request for more details of lubricating my retractable hardtop mechanism. Thanx
 
#22 ·
Here is my report on Michelin Primacy MXM4 ZP 225/45R17 90V, which I had installed last week. The summary is that I like the tire very much, the performance in the rain is fantastic, noise level is ok, tracking through road ruts is excellent, impact noise over tiny ripples and pot holes is very good. So far I am very pleased.

Read on for more detail, which will be boring to most people.

Background: I have a 2009 328i, which came stock with Continental ContiProContact SSR. I live near Toronto, Canada, run Michelin Pilot Alpin PA3 in the winter, and have 62,000 km / 40,000 miles on the car. I am very sensitive to tire noise and NVH. I rotate tires myself to try to prevent feathering and the noise associated with it, with limited success at best. I do no track my car.

Disclaimer: Comparisons from a worn tire to a new tire of any brand is tricky. For example, if you replaced worn tires with the exact same model, you would likely state that the new tires are smoother, quieter, great in the rain. I last ran the stock Contis last fall, prior to running winters, so comparing the stock Contis to the new Michelins need to be taken with a grain of salt.

Findings: After running the car for perhaps 500 km, I encountered a good rain with temperatures at 5 Cel (40 Faren?); traction in the rain is simply fantastic. These tires do not appear to be as quiet nor smooth running on perfect pavement as the stock Contis. The increase in noise is slight. I may need to play around with the air pressure a bit, as I typically run 2 psi more than advised on the door sill. Perhaps the shop could have done a bit better job balancing - I will need to further investigate. The new tires are better at absorbing slight ripples and hard hits from pot holes. The car is completely unaffected by parallel grooves on roads. Steering behaviour remains telepathic. I am still able to hold the steering wheel in one place, with little or no need for steering correction. Steering response is great, it may be very slightly less than the Contis.

Oscar
 
#24 ·
Oscar:
I can compare my Pilots which were new with these MXM4 and report the MXM4 is very quiet compared to the Pilots and improved the mileage significantly.
I would be interested if you noted a change in fuel mileage once you have some miles on them.
About 27 for my Pilots about 31 plus mpg from these at interstate speeds...
 
#26 ·
My review in post 22 is not accurate. I had posted my review without having driven enough. I have three issues.

The first issue is vibration due to not being balanced. I returned to the original tire dealer twice to address vibration. The first return had the shop say that just one tire was out. On the second return, the shop matched the high and low spots on the tires/wheels. This did not fix the vibration to my satisfaction.

I then hunted around for a shop that has a Hunter Road Force. The owner took by car for a test ride and notice the vibration, he also commented that the tires are reallly loud (more on that later). The tech spun the tires straight off the car and told me that two tires were out by 1.25 oz, a third was out by 0.75 oz, I don't know about the fourth tire. The tech then rematched high/low spots on all four tires/wheels. A quick and insuficient test drive reveals an improvement, but not it is still not perfect. I have to drive it The vibration has been reduced, but not eliminated. I need to drive it more to determine if it is acceptable or not. This visit was of course at my own cost.

The second issue is that the tires are loud. This is the same sound/vibration that I get when the tires become feathered I don't know what to do about this.

The third issue is hard to explain; they are just not smooth running.

I am pretty upset at the moment. I am not sure what to do. Go back to the original shop and have them go a test drive? This original shop has always been great - I have bought many sets of tires/wheels from them. I am somewhat reluctant as they did not properly mount/balance my tires on three attempts (initial plus two returns). Perhaps my bearings or something else causing the noise/vibration? My car only has a bit over 40,000 miles.

Oscar
 
#27 ·
Your review is a 180 degrees out from my experience with these tires after a couple thousand miles using them.
Mine run smooth are very quiet and perform adequately and provide a substantial increase from my Michelin Pilot Sports. I fully expect to get 50K miles out of these tires since I got close to 40K miles out of my Conti SSRs.
What tire did you replace when you got your MXM4's?
My car has 58K miles on it by the way for reference.
Something is wrong here because you can't have this much difference in the tires subjective evaluation.
Might be very possible that you got bad tires, it happens but not usually all tires...
 
#28 ·
My tire shop and Michelin were very good to me, stating they have a 30 day money back guarantee. I replaced the Primacy MXM4 ZP 90V with Primacy MXM4 91H. I am much happier now, as is my wife. Initial impressions are very positive. I will spend a bit more time with these new tires before posting a review, likely in the bimmerfest tire forum.


Fun2drive,
To answer your questions: I was replacing the OEM Conti SSR. I have a 2009 328i non-sport, 245/45R17, 40,000 miles. I run Pilot Apin PA3 in the winter. The tire shop said they have had zero issues with the ZP version, having had installed perhaps 40. He did not qualify 40 as 40 tires or 40 cars.
 
#32 ·
What size tire came on your car?
 
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